The Terror Of Thorns
by FairytalesOfForever
Summary: During the time of Race To The Edge, all of the Dragon Riders contract a mysterious disease. Hiccup works himself into the ground trying to make up for it, but what happens when he comes down with the illness himself?
1. Chapter 1

It all started on an ordinary day at Dragon's Edge, when Hiccup was getting the patrols ready to go. Actually, it was on his patrol, but that doesn't happen just yet. "Snotlout, you go to the west coast with...Hmm...Fishlegs." Both young Vikings groaned, but Hiccup ignored them. He knew they considered themselves enemies, but Snotlout needed a more trustworthy rider to keep him in line, and Fishlegs was actually helped by his arrogant partner to step out of his comfort zone sometimes. Anyway, wasn't _everyone_ Snotlout's enemy, to some extent?

Who should he pair the twins with? They couldn't go alone, and he didn't think Fishlegs could handle both, or the crazier of the two, so he said, "And...take Ruffnut." This should be interesting. "Astrid and I will go east, and take Tuff." Astrid grumbled, but he ignored her as well. Hiccup was sure that he and his most trustworthy rider could handle the muttonheaded twin, although he could be difficult even for them when in the presence of his other half.

He walked over to Toothless and mounted his scaly friend easily, having done so countless times. Astrid was doing the same with Stormfly. He then realized that there was a problem: the twins shared their dragon, and he was sending them in two different directions. _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ he thought, and sighed. "Ruff, figure out a way to control both heads...Tuff, you can come on Toothless with me." The Night Fury growled his disapproval. "I know, bud." he said softly. "It's only one patrol."

As they were flying over the lagoon, Astrid started coughing. "Are you okay?" Hiccup asked anxiously. "I'm...fine." She murmured as she broke into another coughing fit. "ASTRID!", he shrieked, his voice cracking, as she plummeted towards the crystal waters below.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiccup didn't care if he drowned, or hit rock instead of water. He didn't care if he got what Astrid had times a thousand. His instincts were screaming at him to save Astrid, and that's exactly what he did. He set Toothless' tail to glide, pressed his arms to his sides, and leapt after the girl dropping towards the water. He grabbed her in his arms and held his breath, bracing himself for the contact with the water. It came, and they landed with a loud splash and sunk like a stone.

Lungs burning and Astrid's weight pulling him down, he swam desperately towards the sunlight, kicking as well as he could with the one leg and his prosthetic. Gasping for air, he broke the surface; Toothless was having trouble diving with his tail set, but he was like a black bullet nonetheless as he shot towards Hiccup and Astrid, Tuffnut screaming from his back. He wrapped his wings around them, and Hiccup floundered for a moment, trying to find the saddle, but soon was clicked in and soaring towards the sky, pressing desperately on Astrid's chest and willing her with everything he had to be alive. Finally, after a few seconds that seemed like hours, she coughed up several mouthfuls of water. "Oh thank Thor", Hiccup breathed.

She tried to smile brightly, but- though Hiccup would never tell her- it appeared weak, and pitiful. "Great" she gasped. "We can go and finish the patrol now." Hiccup rolled his eyes. She really thought he'd let her go flying off on dragonback after almost _drowning?_ Not to mention the coughing fit that caused it. "I'm completely(cough) fine!", she insisted. Hiccup shook his head. "Hut. Now." She sighed and rolled her eyes, but he was sure he detected relief somewhere in those sky-blue irises. "Why are you so stubborn?" she rasped. "I'm so 'stubborn', as you put it, because I care."

Just as he was preparing to transport Astrid back to her hut, Tuffnut crawled out from under Toothless' wing. "That was awesome...awesome as in I just discovered Hiccup has an iron stomach. However, sad to say, I'm pretty sure mine is not." He staggered off into the bushes.

In the drama prior to this statement, the other riders on the patrol had nearly forgotten about him. "Did Tuff just admit to something?" Astrid asked. "I think he did." Hiccup answered as he lifted her onto Stormfly.

Gently, he climbed on behind her. Protesting, Astrid weakly tried to shove him off, but finally yielded to her friend.

Shortly, they landed at her hut. Hiccup knew that in other circumstances, they would've walked, but weak as Astrid was, he didn't see how that was going to work. He laughed as Astrid continued to protest his helping her all the way inside. He broke into her rant- "and you call _me_ stubborn? Astrid, you're sick. You almost drowned. It's kind of obvious that you're not fine."

She sighed, and laid her head back on the pillow. Very gently, Hiccup knelt down beside her and started to unbraid her hair so it was splayed out behind her head. He reached to lift off her armored headband too, but she laid a hand on it and shook her head. Hiccup nodded, and stepped back. "Rest now", he whispered. As quietly as he could, he crept outside. (It's very difficult to walk quietly when it always sounds like step CREAK, step CREAK, step CREAK..).

The other dragon riders were standing outside, looking worried. Heather stepped forward. "I'm glad I decided to stay with you, for a time like this, and Tuff told us what happened...Mostly. What _did_ happen, Hiccup?" He swallowed. "We were flying..I thought there'd been something a little off about Astrid all day..then she started coughing and fell into the water. I managed to pull her out, and fly away; she's in her bed now. I'm _pretty_ sure this should clear up soon, and we'll hope to Thor it does…" his voice trailed off. Fishlegs asked tentatively, "W-what if it doesn't?" "I don't know", Hiccup replied softly. "I just don't know."

The next morning, Hiccup went to check on Astrid. "How are you feeling?" he asked her gently. "It h-hurts" she mumbled. "What hurts?" "M-my arm".

Astrid stretched out her left forearm. The white scar looked even whiter, the skin around it inflamed and red. Hiccup's gaze darkened. He went to brush her golden bangs away from her forehead, and pulled away in shock. Her skin was burning hot! "I'll be right back", he murmured, and came back in a few minutes with a bucket of water and a cloth. He wet the cloth and draped it over her forehead, praying to Thor that this got better soon. He looked over at her face, now white as paper, so small and frail against her bed. Concern and affection filled his eyes, and he crept slowly outside.

"How is she?", Snotlout wanted to know. Hiccup was surprised. The obnoxious young Viking had never seemed to care much for others, yet now he saw genuine concern in his and even the twins' faces. "No better. Her cough has gotten worse..She has an incredibly high fever now, and she says..She says her arm hurts." Worry darkened his expression. "These may all seem like a typical case of bad illness, but a scar suddenly hurting again? New pain in old wounds? This may be a new illness..one we've never seen before."

"Someone could go back to Berk and get Gothi", Fishlegs offered. "No" Hiccup decided. "Now that we're down a rider, we need everyone we can get. Heather, you can go with Fishlegs and Snotlout." Fishlegs couldn't seem to decide whether he should be excited to go with Heather or disappointed to be going with Snotlout. "I'll take the twins". As the two patrols split up, Hiccup noticed Snotlout walking slower than usual. _Oh, no. Surely he can't be..?_ However, the broad-shouldered teen said, "Race you. Fish-face!" and started running towards his dragon. Hiccup smiled, satisfied. Hopefully, Astrid would be well soon, and everything would be normal once more.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Author's Notes: I really hope you like this new chapter. I'm trying to make them longer, and thank you for the great reviews! I hope I get more and I am open to requests, however I will never EVER write any M rated stuff.)**

A few days later, the day dawned bright and sunny, unlike Astrid's condition. She hovered on the border of sleep and wakefulness, occasionally becoming unconscious or crying out from what seemed like horrible nightmares. Her fever was slowly lowering, however, even though when she woke, it was often to plead for water through dry lips until she slipped back into sleep.

As Heather, Fishlegs, and the twins gathered to patrol the island as usual, Hiccup noticed that one of his riders was missing. "Where's Snotlout?" He asked. The others shook their heads. "Uh, sleeping in?" ruff suggested. Hiccup frowned. Snotlout was certainly not his most loyal rider, but he'd almost never missed a patrol, except that time he got food poisoning. He was stupid enough to either eat Ruff's cooking or drink some Yaknog- Hiccup had forgotten. Wait a minute...Could he be… _oh no oh no ohhh no!_

Hiccup practically flew down the path to Snotlout's hut, with its red paint and S design. He threw open the door, crossed the threshold, and saw the arrogant young Viking laying in his bed. Snotlout opened his eyes and in a raspy voice, said "Goody. I get to miss patrol!" but ended with a cough. Hiccup buried his face in his hands. Things just definitely got worse.

Heather appeared in the doorway with Fishlegs not far behind. She saw Hiccup's expression and froze. Snotlout coughed again and said, "Huh. Astrid and me sick at the same time. Must be fate…" "I thought you said..Um..you said I could…" "Oh yeah. Heather is totally in love with me. Sorry, Heather. Well then..Wait..Why am I sick? Why, Thor, why must you bring illness upon the great warrior instead of this shrimp?!"

"Is the fever making him delirious?" Heather asked. "I don't think so. I mean, Snotlout seems to believe that every pretty girl he sees is in love with him, but he sounds a bit like Tuffnut right now." "Hiccup, did you just call me pretty?" Hiccup almost jumped. Embarrassment was obvious in his expression. "N-no, I mean, you're not, um, ugly, but, uh…" He put his hand on the back of his head as he had a habit of doing in awkward situations. Heather smiled. "No, you and Astrid are meant for each other. I won't get in the way." With that, she left to join Fishlegs outside. "Th-thanks, uh…" Hiccup was left staring at the empty doorway.

A few hours later, Hiccup was back at Astrid's hut, sitting and drawing in his sketchbook while she slept. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and said very quietly, "Hiccup?" He jumped up, scattering papers all over the bed and floor. Astrid leaned forward and picked one up; It was the picture he'd been working on before she awoke. "Wow", she breathed.

It was a sketch of her, her head on the pillow, eyes closed with long lashes brushing her cheeks. Her neck was slim and almost swan like, while her lips were curved into a faint smile and you could just tell that her hair was soft and silky, falling ever so gently over her shoulders and on the pillow.

She couldn't possibly look this beautiful. "Is this how you see me?" She asked in awe. "Y-yes...Um..I drew it while you were asleep", Hiccup stammered. "It's beautiful", she said. Hiccup smiled and replied, "So are you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed my story so far. I will be working on my profile this weekend, as well as a profile picture, so keep an eye out for that. Also, I finally added a title image to this story. Enjoy!**

Hiccup was beginning to get stressed. Two of his riders were down now, and he feared that the others could fall ill any day. Astrid was very slowly improving; she was now able to sit up and drink some broth. When Hiccup had the time (which was rare) he would go check on her, and they would talk, he would keep a cold cloth on her forehead, and see if she would drink some water or broth until she fell asleep. Snotlout had descended into the same feverish stratch that the blonde had suffered, and the faint scar on his jaw was swollen and red.

The fourth day after Snotlout fell ill, Hiccup was almost beginnng to believe that this whole thing would soon be over. (Of course it wouldn't). He was going to wake up the twins for patrol as he had to do every morning; it was an a useless battle but annoying nonetheless. As soon as he stepped into their hut, a sharp cough sounded from the dusy dimness in the back of the room where they slept. "Hey, Hiccup", Ruffnut rasped, "You can't make us go on patrol today! (cough)." "it's no fun", her brother complained. "Whatever you get, I get." Okay, _now_ he was stressed.

He stepped outside where Heather and FIshlegs waited. Worry was evident on their faces. Hiccup only shook his head. "Not another one", Heather said softly. "Two", Fishlegs corrected, and ended with a cough. Hiccup looked at him sharply. Fishlegs waved him away. "It's nothing. Their hut is just rather dusty." Hiccup frowned and said, "you two go to the east. I'll patrol west." They nodded. "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" "Of course", Hiccup smiled. "Don't worry about me."

Flying over the Edge Cove, Hiccup looked down at the sparkling waters. As he opened Toothless' tail to turn and head back towards the main island, his own words came into his mind: _new pain in old wounds. old wounds..._ He bit his lip and glanced down at the stirrup for a moment before banishing the thought and flying back to the Clubhouse.

Heather and Fishlegs were already there. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Heather was asking. "Absolutely fine", Fishlegs responded, but to Hiccup it almost sounded forced. He walked up to them and said, "See anything unusual?" "No", Heather answered. "No ships off the coast, no wild dragons anywhere. Nothing." "Good." _I'm pretty sure I have enough to worry about._

The next morning, his fears had come true. Heather only showed up for partrol. "Oh no" Hiccup said, fearing the worst. "Oh yes." Four words and his problem had only grown. "Maybe I should take you off patrols, or something..You don't have to be doing them with only me." "No, I joined you for a reason. A team is a team and a team supports its teammates." "Thank you."

Heather was going west today and he'd go to the east. Hiccup climbed onto Toothless back and rubbed his temple, wishing the annoying ache he'd gained that morning would go away. He yawned and brushed a stray piece of auburn hair out of his eyes before they took to the clouds. _Surely the fresh air up there will help._

He scanned the water for enemy ships, trying to ignore the ache that was clamoring for attention inside his skull. Toothless warbled worriedly, but Hiccup rested his hand on the dragon's large black head and said, "Don't worry, Bud. I'm fine." They soared in a wide arc along the side of the island, searching the woods for fires and the mountaintops for an enemy's camp. Nothing seemed unusual or out of place, so they swooped down and landed at the meeting place. The steady throbbing in his head was slowly growing, but Hiccup being Hiccup, he chose to ignore it. The two patrols exchanged reports; all, luckily, was as it should be.

Hiccup strolled down the walkway to his hut, and began tightening the bolts on a large wooden and metal object that looked like a catapault. He stretched leather over two large drums attatched to wooden beams that connected at the center of the machine. He lifted up a large stone with some difficulty, setting it in one of the drums, and wwheeled the contraption outside, pointing it away from all the buildings. He pressed a button on the side and the two levers clapped together, cracking the stone in half, before rotating and separating to throw the projectile into the mountains where it landed with a huge cloud of dust. He smiled, satisfied.

Sunrise was painting the sky with beautiful hues of rose and violet when Hiccup walked down the bridges to the Clubhouse, only to find it vacant. The faint sounds of coughs, sniffles, and moans sounded from every hut, except Heather's, which they had built a month ago. He peeked inside, and saw the silhouette of Heather's form on her bed. The sound of soft, rasping breath echoed in the silent space. _Wait._ Something was wrong. Heather never slept late, unless...  
Oh no.  
 _Why, Thor,why?_  
Heather was sick.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: My profile and profile picture have been completed! Please take a peek at my profile- I am uite proud of it. Thank you to PlaidOtaku, midnightsky0612, and Hiccstridlover13 for your wonderful reviews. I can't say it enough: Review, PM, communicate with me! I love it and and will respond as soon as possible.**

Dragon's Edge was in trouble. All of its riders except Hiccup were down, but with caring detirination he ran all the patrols alone. Sometimes he would fly the others' dragons; with their riders bedridden, they needed excersize. It was a different experience each time, but flying Toothless was always best. Riding Meatlug was...interesting. Barf and Belch? Two heads to control, but, then, he'd done it once before. Hookfang was far more obedient to him than Snotlout, and Stormfly was very graceful but not as streamlined so she could do fewer stunts.

Three days after he'd discovered Heather sick, he was walking along the bridges to Astrid's hut to check on her after the morning patrol. He'd taken Stormfly west and flown Toothless around the east coast. He yawned and nearly tripped over a loose board. "Stupis leg", he muttered under his breath. Hiccup was more confused than annoyed; he wasn't usually this tired, or this clumsy. He rubbed his forehead; he had a headache again. He passed it off to the all-nighter he'd pulled working on a new invention.

It was a metal disk with several tally marks and an angled wooden needle. After a certain amount of time passed (whatever you set it to be by turning a knob on the top) a small lever inside would strike a stretched piece of leather to make a sound like a drum and wake you up.

He opened the door and found Astrid standing with her back to him, re-braiding her hair. "What are you doing out of bed?", he asked. She smiled. "You should be happy that I can stand up." She nearly fell forwards, but Hiccup caught her and stumbled before helping her stand upright. He rubbed his temple again. She looked at him strangely. "Are you okay?" he blinked. "Y-yes, yes, of course." Astrid leaned on his shoulder and the bed and stepped towards the door. "Ah ah, young lady", Hiccup said, pretending to be strict. " _out of bed_ does not mean _outside._ " Astrid swatted his arm and he stumbled backwards. She gave him that odd look again before sitting down on the bed while Hiccup helped her re-do her braid.

Hiccup felt her tugging on the side of his head. "What are you doing back there?" "Remember that little braid I did in your hair two years ago? There's a messy piece next to it, so I'm putting another braid." "Okay", Hiccup agreed. He coughed into his fist. Astrid looked at him sharply. He coughed again and waved her away with his other hand. "I'm completely fine. Trust me."

He set his ticking-thing- that was what he'd call it- befor going to sleep that night. It seemed like he'd barely slept at all before its banging awoke him again. Hiccup sat up and rubbed the stump of his left leg. _I've just been on it a lot today._ He headed to the dragon stables, trying to ignore the pounding in his head that had returned with a vengeance. It was Hookfang's turn tonight; the huge orange dragon literally wagged his tail when he saw Hiccup heading towards him.

Hiccup coughed into his elbow a few times and cursed the stupid headache under his breath. As they took off into the cool night air, he was rather glad that he wasn't riding Toothless tonight. The Night Fury saw right through anything he pretended, and he would know right away that all was not well with "his" human. Up here with Hookfang, he could give in to the itch in the back of his throat and not hide the painfully obvious coughing, lest he worry one of his weak riders.

The next day was a blur of flying, coughing, aching, and hiding. If any of the riders worried when he went to care for them or check on them, Hiccup waved them off. He tried not to limp or ive in to the exhaustion that he knew was the result of all those night patrols. All he knew was that he had to survive, somehow. He was the last hope of Dragon's Edge.

He slept right throuh his alarm that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I felt like this chapter needed to be better paced, so here it is! Look for future additions to this story, by the way. I've gotten better since I wrote it, and I feel like there are a lot of cool things I could have done with it that I plan to do now.**

Hiccup knew he should be resting, but at the moment he didn't care. The Edge had him now, and him only, and he was determined to protect it, as well as its sick riders, for as long as he could. True, sometimes he wondered how much more he could take. Would it be the next wave of pain, the next cough, the next late night that finally brought him down?

But what did worrying do? He had an island to maintain and protect, and protect it he would.

Admittedly, Astrid was finally well enough to watch the Edge for the day or two that it would take to go to Berk and talk to Gothi. Hiccup didn't like having to give her the task- what if she wasn't all the way healed?- but they desperately needed a cure, or at least some information. On the day he was to leave for Berk, he woke up early (whether he wanted to or not) and met her by the Clubhouse.

Concern was obvious on her face. "Are you sure you're up to making this flight, Hiccup? You don't look so great."

 _No, I'm not sure at all_.

But, of course, he wasn't going to say that. Instead, he coughed and replied, "I'll be fine. Really. I'll have Toothless, and he'll watch me, won't you, Bud?"

Toothless warbled in agreement, although he too looked concerned.

Astrid nodded, still looking doubtful. "I can't stop you from going, can I?"

"Well, much as we wish it was different, no, you can't", Hiccup answered, carefully climbing into Toothless' back.

"I really hate that about you", she sighed. "I'll see you when you get back."

Hiccup nodded, then took off.

Up in the sky, he didn't have to worry about suppressing his coughs, or gasping when his leg twinged painfully. It hurt. It really hurt, and it was all he could do to walk anywhere close to steadily.

Maybe flying for almost twenty-four hours with a dragon who required use of a foot pedal was not such a great idea.

The hours passed by slowly, and more than once the pain and exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him. When that happened, Hiccup considered landing on a sea stack to wait it out, but knew he couldn't. Astrid and the others were depending on him.

It was just about dawn again when he finally caught sight of Berk. What a welcome sight _that_ was!

"We might actually make it, Bud", Hiccup told Toothless happily.

Flying over the docks, he caught sight of his reflection in the water. His face was as white as the snow of Deep Winter, and dark circles like bruises stood out prominently under his eyes. His whole frame seemed limp and tired.

 _I'll admit it to myself, but no one else_ , Hiccup thought. _Gods, I'm exhausted._

He could only imagine how he was supposed to convince his father that h was fine, but maybe if he could just catch Gothi alone...

Not happening. Stoick stood in the "town square" on the center of the island, looking up when Hiccup and Toothless landed. Hiccup all but stumbled out of the saddle and stood to face his father, trying to hide the fact that he was leaning on Toothless for support. His leg was throbbing badly.

 _Oh, Thor, it hurts._

"Hiccup!"

Worry filled his father's face. "What's brought you back to Berk, son? You don't look well."

"I'm fine", Hiccup said quickly. His father raised a doubtful eyebrow, but Hiccup, swallowing a cough, waved him off. "Really. I'm fine. But the others... not so much. I need to speak to Gothi."

"You're sure about that? Very well. She'll be in her house."

"Thanks", Hiccup said. He turned around to walk, but his leg quickly squashed the idea. Masking a gasp of pain, Hiccup climbed onto Toothless' back instead. It would be faster to fly up to Gothi's house anyhow.

He knew his father was watching him as they climbed into the sky, higher and higher, soaring until the deck of Gothi's house came into view. Hiccup landed, grateful for having to take only a few steps before sinking into a chair. Gothi came out of her storage area, saw him, rubbed the base of her staff in a nearby bowl of powdered charcoal, and tilted her head as if to say, _Well?_

"The others are sick", Hiccup began. Gothi gave him a skeptical look and poked him with her staff. Hiccup coughed. She nodded.

"No, really, you don't need to- I'm just- look, we don't know what they're sick with, and I need your help to figure out and find a cure."

She scribbled something, the rough translation of which read, _Darn right you do._

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. The cold air hadn't helped him one bit- he hoped he didn't have a fever.

 _Symptoms?_ , Gothi wrote, then rubbed her staff in the charcoal powder again.

"Coughing, fever, and this strange one... pain in old wounds." As if on cue, the pain in his leg spiked, and Hiccup tried to cover his grimace.

Gothi met his eyes and poked his metal leg gently with her staff. Despite himself, Hiccup winced. She nodded gravely.

 _This illness is called the Terror of Thorns_ , she wrote. _I haven't dealt with it before, only heard of it, but that does mean I have never had to use my small supply of the cure._

Hiccup could feel his shoulders droop with relief. Gothi patterned into her medicine store, and came out with a bottle of swirling, purplish-blue liquid.

 _Six doses_ , she wrote.

Astrid... Fishlegs... Ruffnut...Tuffnut...Snotlout...Heather...

Oh.

Hiccup, lost in thought for a moment, felt a hand tapping on his arm. Gothi held out a piece of paper.

 _Recipe_ , she wrote. _Two things._

Hiccup looked at the list.

Night Fury Plasma Blast

Blue Oleander

Hiccup blinked. "Plasma blast? Does this mean... you've met another Night Fury? How did you collect it?"

Gothi shook her head. _Old cure. Long unused. Made before the Night Furies were all gone,_ she wrote. Hiccup sighed and translated to Toothless, who answered with a disappointed "Wroo".

"I know, Bud", Hiccup said, scratching the dragon's ear-flaps. "But you know I won't give up on that."

He suddenly doubled over, thrown into a fit of coughing, and when he looked up to something cool on his throat, he saw Gothi pressing some sort of juice to it with a leaf.

 _Stupid teenagers_ , she wrote, along with a few less repeatable things.

"Thank you, Gothi", said Hiccup honestly. He tucked the cure and the recipe into Toothless' saddlebag, limped to the saddle, and climbed on.

She, like his father, seemed to be watching him as he flew away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: Hello everybody! Yes, my profile is finally finished! I believe I am going to make this story a chapter longer than I planned, but it should be done by the end of today, Sunday Oct. 9, 2016. This chapter will be from Astrid's P.O.V instead of Hiccup's, although I may change that in a few paragraphs to describe things like pain that she could not feel.**

Astrid was worried about Hiccup. It was becoming obvious that he was no longer fine, and yet he continued to push himself. She had no idea how many times he'd stayed up all night, working on a new invention or excersizing the others' dragons. He continued to come and care for the sick riders, too, but at least Astrid could help with the patrols now. Despite his persistent cough, pale face, and limp that he tried to hide, he never rested, never wanting anyone to worry and never admitting that he was rather obviously exhausted.

He had given the cure to everyone when he came back with it two days ago, and they were slowly improving. She only was already far enough along that it cured her completely. Astrid feared that he was ill too, however, and there was none left for him.

Today was another one of those days where the sun is shining, Terrible Terrors are singing from the forest, and it fooled Astrid into almost believing that all was right with the world.  
Until she saw Hiccup.

His face was white, eyes exhausted. His limp had become more pronounced and she could've sworn he was shivering. "Hiccup, you idiot! What are you doing out?" "W-what do you mean?(cough)", he stammered. "I mean, you're limping, I could swear that that ough has gotten worse, and you ar ein no condition to be outside!" "I'm _fine._ Anyway, we do a patrol on foot every two weeks, remember? Today is that day." Oh for the love of Thor. Like she was going to let him patrol the forest in that condition. But, then again, she couldn't go alone. "Fine. You can come." "You know I'd go anyway, right?" "Yes. Yes I do."

She watched Hiccup as they walked towards the northern woods. His limp was what worried her most. Sometimes, he'd hiss in pain at a particularly difficult step, and when he reached up to get a fruit for her from a tree (he was actually taller now), he made the mistake of standing on it and actually cried out.

Astrid wasn't sure this was such a good idea. Hiccup was leaning on the trees and putting almost all his weight on his right side. He coughed often, and spoke little. Yet whenever she worried, he simply waved her away with a sogft yet determined, "I'm fine." How much longer coud this go on? How much longer before Hiccup drove himself past the breaking point? Astrid feared she woould soon find out.

She spotted a mark in the wood of a pine tree, and turned to examine it. Suddenly, she heard a fit of sharp, hacking coughing from behind her. She spun around, only to find her shirt caught on a thorn branch. Helplessly, she watched as Hiccup coughed and coughed until he bent over...  
coughed and coughed till he fell to his knees...  
coughed and coughed till he slumped over sideways and collapsed, falling silent.

With one last, desparate wrench, she pulled away from the thorny vine. Racing to Hiccup's side, she lifted his head and cradled it in her lap. "Why, Hiccup, why? Why must you be so stupid?"  
She pressed her ear to his heart and almost fainted with relief when she heard a beat. A faint, fluttering heartbeat, but it was there. He slowly opened his eyes and mumbled, "Astrid?.. I-I'm f-fine..." _Seriously? He just collapsed and he's still trying to insist that he's fine?_ "You are not fine", she said firmly. "Can you walk?" "K-kind of..."She lifted him up, supporting him with his arm around her shoulders, and half carried him back to the Edge, along the walkways, to his hut.

The pain was definitely worse. It was everywhere. His pounding head, the scar on his jaw, and his leg... _ohhh!_ That was indescribable. Yet, somehow, he had to hang on to the last scraps of the figure he'd been. He had to be brave, had to be strong, for Astrid, for the Edge, for all its riders...He had to. But it was terrible,burning, stinging, biting, fire and ice locked in a sizeless battle in the stump of his left leg. Twitching against the metal of the prosthetic, he could feel it, bruised, cut, burning beyond words. Gone. The phantom of the pain he'd known, years ago, grown and coming bak to haunt him.

Astrid could almost see the pain. His face was clenched with it, teeth gritted, eyes clamped shut to keep tears from rolling down his face. Trying to pick up and hang on to the last scraps of his dignity, the leader he thought he had to be. Shaking with coughs, twitching with pain, shivering with fever. Why, why did he drive himself to the brink like this? Why did he throw himself into something, never caring ho wweak he'd grown, until he pushed himself to the breaking point and everything fell apart? Were the late nights, all-nights, the pain, the exhaustion, the facade of strength really worth it? Astrid would never quite understand, but if you asked Hiccup...  
Yes. Yes, they were.

 **Author's Notes: Wowee! That was something. I really did throw myself into this, so please review and tell me what you think. One more chapter! Please, requests! I will do my best to make something of the picture you paint for me.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Surpriiiiiise! It's not over yet!**

 **Yes indeedy, there will be another chapter or two to this story now! I've grown a lot in my writing skills since I first posted it, and I feel like there are new places it can go.**

Astrid was walking back to her hut after the long day she and Hiccup had had. She was passing his hut when she heard a strangled moan from inside, like a wild creature trying to break out of its chains. She opened the door, perhaps more loudly than she meant to, and raced inside. What she saw broke her heart.

Hiccup was in his bed, tangled in the blankets, his eyes clenched tight shut and teeth gritted. his hands desperately grasped at the stump of his left leg, angry red and swollen, while the prosthetic was cast on the floor. He looked up at her with a helpless expression that made her heart crack.

"Astrid...i-it hurts. M-my leg...It hurts!" She went and sat beside him.

"Oh, Hiccup." In some ways, this was his own fault, but at that moment she didn't care. Astrid did have a caring side, and though she cared in her own way, it broke her to see him like this.

"I c-can't...c-cant c-c-cry..Not w-with you..n-not f-f-for...you..no.." Her eyes softened.

"Of course you can cry. I know the pain, Hiccup. I can only imagine how much it must be multiplied for you. It's okay, Hiccup. Cry. Just cry."

So he finally cried.

The man who trained the dragons, who killed the Red Death, who bore the greatest form of battle scar that was now tearing him apart, buried his face in the blankets and cried. Astrid cradled his head in her lap as he continued to sob against the pain, the horrible, white-hot, burning, piercing, tearing pain. Wet clothes to blazes! They were Vikings. She'd endured far worse than a snotty skirt. She touched it lightly, and he shrieked. Astrid quickly drew back her hand, continuing to murmur and soothe him until he fell into a peaceful sleep.

Hiccup woke up the next morning with a headache. What a surprise. Of course it was the worst one he'd ever had, what else would it be? Like he didn't have enough pain to deal with, you know, the whole leg-being-on-fire-and-cut-with-a-white-hot-sword thing? The gods of FanFiction just loved to torture him.

He sat up, slowly, and broke into a coughing fit. He blinked slowly and looked around, then remembered the events of the day before. The horrible itch in his throat, the blackness, the unspeakable pain, the tears that stung the white scar on his whiter face. He gingerly rubbed what was left of his leg and cried out at the daggers of pain shooting up it at his touch. He started coughing again, shaking, and finally fell back. Somewhere in his mind he knew the worst was about to begin.

This was killing him...Hopefully not literally. The cough had gotten worse and it wouldn't leave him alone. Between his head, his leg, and his jaw, his world was a spinning blur of throbbing fire veiled in the scarlet mist of agony. Hot with fever, shaking from chills, crying out in pain, coughing endlessly. He didn't know when he was conscious or unconscious, awake or alseep. Plauged by nightmares, half asleep, it was disorienting and upside down. Nothing was more than a flicker in time, except the ruby, fiery pain that never let him be. Clouds of uncertainty had descended on his eyes and his mind, nothing was fully realized, and half the time he didn't know if he was alive or dead.

Yet, steady in the ever-changing, spinning, scarlet, throbbing world of pain, was Astrid. Blue eyes pulling him away from the edge that he nearly crossed too many times, golden hair like the sunlight he was desperate to see again. Skin a healthy shade, contrasting with his so sickly pale, a voice pleading him to fight on when nothing else made sense. When daggers of pain were filling his entire body, when agony seemed too weak a word, when everything was upside down and he was buried behind a veil of pain, her gentle touch on his hand or a cold cloth on his face brought him back from the brink of eternity.

For Astrid, she was broken over and over, feeling her heart crack in two when she saw him so helpless and small. His skin burned like fire to the touch, and he tossed and turned restlessly. This was far worse than she or any of the others had had it, Astrid knew. His face was pasty white, with dark rings under his eyes like bruises, and his cheeks burned scarlet with fever. She tried to keep a cold cloth on his forehead, closing her eyes and feeling desparate when he shrieked and screamed from nightmares and pain.

Sometimes the others, who by now were finally all well, would come to see him. Astrid, keeping her faithful vigil, tried not to cry when they gasped in shock at his state. She knew, somewhere deep inside, that he was steadily growing weaker. His thrashings had grown feeble, his cries desparate and hopeless. His fever sat at an unimaginably high level and all night he screamed in pain. Tears finally coursed down her cheeks as her deepest fear formed a sentence in her mind: _if we don't do something, he might die._

One morning, Toothless seemed agitated. Well, more than he had been. He was obviously trying to get Astrid's attention, but she couldn't understand for the life of her what he was trying to say.

He started sniffing at his saddlebag, poking it with his tail, licking it even. "There must be something in there", Astrid muttered. She lifted the flap and pulled out a small piece of paper.

"Night Fury Plasma Blast... Blue Oleander", she read. "Toothless,.. is this the recipe for the cure?"

Toothless bobbed his head and hopped up and down excitedly.

"Guys!", Astrid exclaimed, running into the clubhouse, her heart pounding a million miles an hour. "Toothless found a recipe that's gonna help us save Hiccup!"

The others, who were all in there already, looked up. "Really?", said Fishlegs, hope rising in his voice. "Are the ingredients very rare?"

"Well, one we have right here, if we can figure out how to collect it", Astrid replied, trying to stay sensible and suppress her elation. "The other will be nearly impossible, though", she added, staring at the words "Blue Oleander".

"Emphasis on 'nearly'?", asked Snotlout hopefully. "Cause I would really like to not die. I would also like for Hiccup to not die, that would be good."

"If he does, I get Toothless", said Tuffnut. Astrid rounded on him immediately.

"Great to know that this is a joke to you", she snapped. "If you think death is so funny, we'll see if you're laughing when I roast your stupid chicken for dinner tonight!"

During this speech, she had grabbed said chicken by the neck and was holding it up threateningly.

"Or maybe I'll feed Belch some blue oleander, huh? Would that get it through to you?"

Ruffnut stood up. "Hey, bro, maybe a moment of silence would be nice. Astrid. Put. The. Chicken. Down."

Astrid curled her non-fowl-filled hand into a fist but set the bird down, which wobbled unsteadily over to its owner.

"So, we need to figure out, a, how to collect blue oleander, and b, how to put a Plasma Blast in a bottle."

Fishlegs frowned. "The Plasma Blast is the tough one. For the Blue Oleander, we could build a ship and have the dragons pull it. That way, they would be far enough from the one flower that it wouldn't affect them. We would only need-"

"A small ship!", Astrid interrupted, her voice rising excitedly. "I'll get to work on that. Fishlegs, you try and figure out how we can collect a Plasma Blast. "

Within days, a small ship was built, but no matter how many books Fishlegs looked through, he couldn't find the answer to the Plasma Blast problem. Astrid was restless and impatient, and it took everything she had not to shake him and yell to read faster. Toothless kept trying, shooting into glass bottles, even Gronckle iron bottles, but they always broke.

Meanwhile, Astrid worried nonstop about Hiccup. He wasn't getting any worse, but, then, he wasn't getting any better. He was out cold for most of the time, but when he was semi-conscious, he seemed to be in constant, unbearable pain. He screamed and cried all the time, and Astrid could do nothing but keep a cold cloth on his forehead, hold him in her arms, and watch the barriers of friendship between them fall.

Whatever she was feeling, it was red-hot, rock solid, all-enveloping, and stronger than anything or anyone she'd ever known. This went way beyond worry, way beyond concern for her friend; it was powerful enough to take her over, and yet gentle enough to give Astrid the perfect words to say when he whimpered and cried non-stop. He needed her, and suddenly Astrid realized that she liked that. She hated seeing him suffer with every inch of her being, wished she could take his place, but she did like to be needed. No, that wasn't it. It wasn't the sensation that she liked or loved. It was that she, well, loved _him_ the most when he needed her.  
Still, the waiting was driving her absolutely insane. There was no feeling that Astrid loathed worse than helplessness, and that was exactly what she was feeling now, on an unimaginable level.

Then, one day, Fishlegs found it.

The solution: pink oleander.

"How many oleanders _are_ there?", Snotlout asked. "And why does it have to be pink?"

"Well, to my knowledge, there are four oleanders, but there might be more that we don't know of", Fishlegs replied. "It says here that pink oleander turns a dragon's fire to liquid if they eat it- except for Gronckles, since theirs already is. It will still be hot enough to melt anything that isn't Gronckle iron, though."

Toothless lifted his head and warbled excitedly.

"Are there any side effects?", Astrid asked.

"No", said Fishlegs, "but the only place it grows is Oleander Island, where all of the types of oleander grow. The island is three days from here by dragon-pulled boat."

"Three days? That's six days round trip!", Astrid exclaimed. "Hiccup doesn't have that long!"

"Well, he has to", said Fishlegs grimly. "Gothi and Stoick are arriving tomorrow, though; they can stay and take care of him while we're gone getting the cure."

Astrid sighed. "I don't like it", she confessed.

"Well, I for one think things are lining up nicely", said Snotlout. When Astrid turned his way, he added hastily, "Just a thought."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Time for some Stoick POV! Yay! Fatherly feels :)**

 **Also, a more extended and realistic Hiccstrid scene at the end. It's EXRA HICCSTRID, people. There are few better things in the world.**

The moment Skullcrusher landed, Stoick was off of his back. He ran into Hiccup's hut and knelt next to his son's bed. He cradled Hiccup's upper half in his arms, his dark-auburn head resting in one massive hand. He couldn't believe the state his boy- well, he was technically a man now, when did that happen?- was in. His skin burned like the hottest fire and his face was paler than a Deep Winter blizzard. His eyes were screwed shut painfully, but he slowly blinked them open and croaked, "Dad? What-"

That was as far as he got before being enveloped by a fit of rasping, chest-rattling coughs.

"Hiccup", Stoick heard himself whisper hoarsely. Hiccup managed to twist his face into something resembling a wry smile.

"Happy to see you too", he rasped.

Stoick nearly cried. Almost dead and the boy was still using that sass of his.

"Everything hurts, Dad", Hiccup mumbled.

"Your leg?", Stoick asked.

Hiccup nodded, and for one alarming moment it looked like he was going to cry. "S-so b-bad... and it's like... like...I c-can't..."

His fever was burning up, but his teeth chattered as he shivered in his father's arms.

"Shh, lad, shh. Don't try so hard, you've got to rest."

It was amazing how easy being a father became when all he had to do was soothe, comfort and care. He didn't have to worry about what to say or how to connect; instinct took over, all that was left was to make it better any way he knew how.

"Gothi's here, lad. She'll do her best to help you.. hang on..."

It was impossible to imagine the alternative. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

"Dad", said Hiccup, and his voice was too calm, "Am I dying?"

If there was a better way to crack a father's heart in two, Stoick didn't know of one. "I hope not, son", he whispered. "We- we won't let you."

Hiccup nodded, but suddenly he gasped, and his face twisted into a pained expression. "Oh, gods", he gasped, his hands moving seemingly of their own accord to his leg. His eyes snapped shut, lids pressed tight together as a last defense to keep the tears from coming.

"Hiccup!", Stoick exclaimed.

Hiccup shook his head mutely, his breath coming in rapid gasps. He was shaking like a leaf. "Oh, Thor- hurts- t-too bad- really, really, bad- make it stop, please, make it stop!"

The pleading note in his voice made Stoick feel so helpless, so furious that there was nothing he could do to make it stop.

"Gothi!", Stoick yelled. Where was she, wasn't she supposed to be here?

Suddenly, she was there, with Astrid at her side. The blonde stroked Hiccup's hair away from his forehead, seating herself on the bed in front of him. He turned his head away, straining to keep his face out of their view. Gothi tried to turn him to face her, a bottle of some sort of pain medicine in hand, but he refused.

"Please, Hiccup", Astrid begged. "This will make it stop."

He hesitated before turning to them, shame pooling in his eyes and tears on his face. "M'sorry", he mumbled to the floor.

"Sorry? Why?", Stoick asked blankly.

Hiccup, with a tremendous effort, lifted a hand and dragged it across his eyes.

"Crying", he mumbled, sounding still more ashamed. "Shouldn't be...gotta b-be strong... b-b-but it h-hurts, it hurts r-really bad!"

"I won't be angry with you for crying, lad", said Stoick, mentally cursing himself for all the times he probably had been before.

Gothi pressed the pain potion to his lips while rolling back his pants leg to get a better look at the throbbing stump. Hiccup protested, but she persisted.

Astrid twined her hand with Hiccup's- subtly, but Stoick saw. At least there was one thing to make him happy out of all of this, if Hiccup survived.

No, he couldn't think that way. Hiccup had to survive. There was no alternative.

"We need to leave to get the cure", said Astrid softly. "Hiccup, we will come back with the cure, I promise."

With a furtive glance at Stoick, she dropped a kiss onto Hiccup's forehead, then left.

Astrid was pacing the deck of the (admittedly small) boat they had built. She had no idea how she was going to survive three days on this thing. It was big enough for the six of them (her, Heather, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins), plus Toothless, but not much bigger. So far, things were going smoothly, but Astrid was a little nervous, because with Hiccup unavailable, she was automatically put in charge. They had equipped the vessel with Hiccup's latest catapult-like invention in case of any attack, but Astrid wasn't sure if she would be able to come up with a good enough plan in the event of a battle.

She sent Terror Mails back to the Edge over the course of those three long days, but she didn't get many back, and the ones that she did said the same thing: some version of "he's in terrible shape but not dying and not much has changed".

It was driving her crazy.

Astrid was starting to think that they were never going to get there. She had nothing to do except pace the deck and keep everybody from killing everybody else (or themselves). Snotlout threatened to jump overboard once or twice every hour, but he never meant it, and the twins very nearly fell in several times. Sometimes, Astrid would climb into Stormfly's back as she helped to pull the ship, as though having her head in the clouds would clear it somehow. She could tell Toothless was just as worried as she was, and that he very badly wanted to fly, but he was more patient than she, and seemed to understand what they were doing and why.

Finally, finally, after what couldn't have been anything less than an eternity, they arrived at the Oleander Island (as close as the dragons could get, anyway. They were all resting on nearby sea stacks).

Astrid and the others jumped onto the island and immediately began searching for the pink and blue oleanders.

The blue was quite easily found by Snotlout, but Fishlegs was leading the search for the pink oleander, and so far it wasn't going well. After they had a single flower of blue oleander, the whole gang devoted themselves to searching the island for pink oleander.

The whole time, Astrid had a feeling in her gut that something was wrong.

Then the miraculous moment came: Fishlegs shouted, "We found it! A single blossom!"

The others raced to see, and there, atop a pillar of dirt and rock, there sprouted a single pink oleander flower. Snotlout was halfway up the pillar, reaching for it, when something flew into the pillar and crumbled it.

Snotlout jumped back, unscathed, as Ryker stood in the midst of the rubble, pinching the blossom between two fingers.

"Looking for this?", he snarled, and then before they knew what was happening, a ship was drawing close to shore and firing on them.

"Hiccup's catapult!", Astrid yelled. "Someone needs to go back and man it!"

The twins saluted and ran back towards the ship before Astrid could say anything.

"Do we trust them with that?", Snotlout yelped, dodging a large rock that came flying at his head.

Heather chopped a flying rock in half with her axe.

"We have no choice!", Astrid yelled back, praying that in this case going with her gut and letting them was the right thing to do.

She wasn't disappointed. There was a loud yell, a smash, and a puff of smoke coming from the side of the ship, quickly followed by another. Stormfly flew as close as she could and dangled her tail down for Astrid to climb up.

Windshear, seeing this, did the same, but she was the only other dragon who could do so.

"Looks like it's just you and me!", Astrid yelled to Heather as Stormfly scorched the ship and its backup. "I need to sneak in there and get the pink oleander!"

"Who said it was just you two?", Ruffnut called. The twins had just flown up on Barf and Belch. "We're great at diversions", Tuff added. "Did you see that blast?"

"Yeah, it was impressive", Heather agreed.

"Wickedly awesome, more like", Ruffnut added. "So, anyway, do what you need to, blondie. We got ya covered."

Astrid raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but flew down to the ship Ryker had re-boarded.

She had snuck in in an instant, and was pleased to see (but not so much to smell) a large cloud of green gas enveloping the ship. She pushed through the smoky fog and slipped into his cabin, where, as she'd expected, he was sitting, apparently examining the pink blossom.

That blossom was the key to saving Hiccup, and suddenly Astrid has never wanted anything more in her life. Nothing, except the things that she couldn't be sure enough of to say.

The blossom was in her hands and she and taken off running before either one knew what had happened. She was on Stormfly's back and halfway back to the ship before the elation hit her: they were going to save Hiccup! They were really going to do it!

The explosion of the gas behind her was just the icing on the cake.

She couldn't be back in the boat fast enough. She all but shoved the pink oleander into Toothless' mouth, and Fishlegs held out a small Gronckle Iron container made specifically for the purpose.

"Plasma Blast", Astrid commanded, and Toothless obliged. The flower worked perfectly, and the small container was filled with something that looked like violet lava.

Astrid dropped in the blue oleander, and although her memories of Hiccup giving her the cure were fuzzy, she remembered it looking just like this.

Now she just had to survive the trip back.

Somehow, she survived it- it was nothing short of a miracle that they all did. She ran to Hiccup's hut, the now-cooled cure in hand, and saw Stoick and Gothi standing by his bed.

"Oh, thank Thor", said Stoick, and Astrid didn't think she'd ever seen him so relieved. No more words were needed; warriors, the both of them, they silently agreed that this was a time to act.

Astrid carefully parted Hiccup's lips and poured in the cure.

Nothing dramatic happened, and it might have been her imagination, but she could've sworn that his breathing evened out and some color returned to his face.

Once they were outside, Gothi scribbled something in the dirt. Fishlegs interpreted: "We'll have to wait overnight, but things look promising."

Astrid was swamped by relief. She was not, as a rule, a very emotional person, but this whole experience had effectively put her emotions through every dragon attack in the known world, then subjected them one of the twins' "experiments". She felt like crying, or laughing maybe. She had never been closer to kissing Hiccup right on the lips, aside from the times she'd actually done it, but that would have to wait until he was conscious.

The next morning, with Toothless following close behind, Astrid went to check on Hiccup. Stoick and Gothi had (reluctantly) left the previous night, seeing as the village needed them.

When she went in, to her surprise, he was awake.

"Hi", he said, and though his voice sounded even more ridiculous than usual, it was music to her ears. Toothless ran up to him and licked his face happily. "Eww, Toothless!", he exclaimed, though he was laughing.

"How do you feel?", asked Astrid, moving over to feel his forehead. He smiled grimly. "Like I've been mauled by a pack of angry Monstrous Nightmares. I think I've been better."

Astrid laughed. Hiccup was back, making her laugh again, and the whole world could see her joy. "How's your leg?"

"Well, like it's recently been sliced off with a white-hot sword, but at least the act of cutting itself is over with." Toothless gave it an experimental sniff and warbled happily.

Astrid grinned. "Your fever's broken."

"Yeah, it's a funny thing, but it just dawned on me that I'm not alternating between the forge's furnace and Glacier Island anymore."

It was like after the battle with the Red Death. He was awake now, he was going to be okay, and, even better, he was being his usual Hiccupy self. Though not ruled by her emotions, Astrid did tend to go with her instincts, and every one she had was screaming in elation that this was the time for something drastic. She could barely contain the pure joy bubbling up inside her now that he was alive, and safe, and it was really going to be okay.

Astrid punched Hiccup on the arm, keeping in mind not to be too rough about it. "We all thought you were going to die. Even you did. So that, right there, is for almost dying. If you do it again, I swear, I'll kill you myself."

Hiccup grinned. "Fair."

"And you had better taking a hiatus from the words 'I'm fine' for at least a year. Six months if I'm in a great mood."

And that she was, almost going silly with relief and elation. But she wasn't done yet.

"Do you remember what I used to do after I punched you?"

She could've sworn he was blushing, but before he had the chance to speak, Astrid pulled him into a long kiss. It was raw, warm and wonderful, and filled with the things that she could never figure out how to say, because action was how she said them. When Astrid finally pulled back, he was definitely blushing.

It was so nice to see color in his face and light in his eyes. Toothless plopped his head down in his rider's lap contentedly.

"That", she said, "is for getting better. I've been stupid, Hiccup. I'm sorry that you almost had to die for me to realize... well, what I've been feeling all along, I guess. I wish we didn't have to go through all this, but at least something good came of it."

Hiccup was grinning like an idiot. "And you say I'm the one with dramatic flair."

Astrid realized that she, too, was blushing, but there was something quite pleasant about the sensation. "You do it on a _much_ larger scale", she said.

Hiccup just kept smiling. "That was just enough for me", he replied.

Because now he was awake and _alive_ , and that alone was enough. Now he had his best friend and his maybe-something-more-than-friend with him. Now, there was hope, there was a chance, and with time, all would be right in the world once again.

 ** _The End_**


End file.
